Justice minister under pressure

Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南) yesterday ordered sweeping changes to be made in the way prosecutors tackle high-profile and sensitive cases.

The move comes amid a public backlash against a decision by the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office's decision not to indict People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) on embezzlement charges in the wake of the Chung Hsing Bills Finance scandal (興票案).

Chen ordered all prosecutors' offices to set up task forces to investigate more serious cases, replacing the old practice whereby one prosecutor alone was assigned to oversee any particular case.

The procedural reform would "draw on collective wisdom and eliminate personal prejudice," according to a press release issued by the ministry.

The press release said that since the Lunar New Year, criticism directed at the ministry has escalated, and quoted Chen as saying: "Hardly a day goes by without a phone call condemning the ministry. Some even heckle [me and officials at the ministry] in person."

Chen said that the public should not condemn the ministry for actions taken by prosecutors because the justice minister cannot order prosecutors to indict or not to indict.

"But such misunderstandings [concerning relations between the justice ministry and prosecutors] have become widespread recently," Chen said.

He ordered the ministry's Department of Prosecutorial Affairs to clearly explain to the public the limits of the ministry's authority and its policy on respecting prosecutors' jurisdiction.

He said he would exercise his powers of administrative supervision on prosecutors, however, to order changes of practice.

Chen said that when prosecutors-general discover a subordinate to be dealing inappropriately with a certain case, they should exercise their legal power to install a new prosecutor to take over the case or to order a joint effort in the investigation.

Taipei prosecutor Hung Tai-wen (洪泰文) ruled against indicting Soong on Jan. 20, the day before the Lunar New Year holiday began.

Members of the Judicial Reform Foundation (民間司法改革基金會) said that the ministry should investigate whether the officiating prosecutor in the Soong case had violated due process in his investigation.

According to Sue Wang (王時思) the foundation's executive-general, Chen had agreed that his ministry would investigate Hung's administrative responsibilities, while his secretary quoted Chen as saying that an investigation by the ministry might not be appropriate since the case is now being investigated by the Control Yuan.